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The AA responds to e-toll debarcle
The 17th of May marks the end of the extended period for Gauteng motorists to pay their outstanding historic e-toll
accounts at a reduced rate of 60 percent, in relation to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).
Autodealer
In May last year,
Deputy President Cyril
Ramaphosa announced the 60%
reduction as an incentive to get
more Gauteng motorists to settle
their historic debt with the South
African National Roads Agency
Limited (SANRAL). This offer
expired on 2 May but was extended until today by Transport
Minister Dipuo Peters.
“Following the announcement
of the discoun ts, and now the
subsequent extension, we believe
it is an opportune time to assess
the success of the e-toll system in
so far as motorists who have paid
their accounts. These numbers
should indicate, once and for
all, what the uptake of e-tolls in
Gauteng has been, and therefore
provide concrete evidence as to
what extent it has been accepted
or rejected in the province,” the
AA said.
To this end, the AA calls
on SANRAL to answer the
following questions:
1.How many of the 4.5 million
registered vehicles in Gauteng
are making use of the Gauteng
Freeway Improvement Project
(GFIP)?
2.How many of these vehicles
have been e-tagged?
3.Of the total vehicles using the
GFIP how many have paid, and
how many accounts are outstanding?
4.How many motorists have taken up the 60% discount offer, and
settled their historic debt with
SANRAL?
5.How many motorists have taken up the 60% discount offer, and
made arrangements to settle their
accounts with SANRAL?
6.How much money has been
collected since the introduction
of e-tolling in December 2013?
7.Of the money collected, how
much has been retained for the
management of the collections
and collections infrastructure,
and how much of it has gone to
servicing SANRAL’s road-related
debt and road development?
8.How much money does SANRAL believe it has lost through
non-compliance of e-toll payments?
9.If SANRAL intends issuing
summonses on all outstanding
accounts, as it has indicated it
will, how long does it anticipate
this process taking to reach its
conclusion?
“Since the inception of e-tolling
in Gauteng, many numbers have
been bandied about regarding
the uptake, or lack thereof, by
the Gauteng motoring public. By
providing clear, and indisputable
answers to the above questions,
SANRAL has the opportunity to
prove its assertion that Gauteng
motorists have begun paying
their debt and are, by extension,
beginning to accept the system,”
the AA noted.
The AA said should the numbers
however prove to remain low at
the end of this discount campaign, it will be a clear indication
that motorists have voted with
their wallets.
“If this is the case, then it will
prove, that Gauteng motorists
have rejected e-tolling and the
costs associated with the collection of debts. Regardless of the
result, there is an urgent need for
a solution, one way or another, to
bring closure to this messy saga
which appears to have no end in
sight,” the AA concluded.